I use binder clips for a lot of things around the shop, and here’s one that I thought I’d share. When I need to make multiple cuts all the same length, I just clamp my jumbo binder clip to my fence and use a 1/4-in.-thick wood scrap pinched in the clip as a stop. Works like a charm! When it’s not in use, I clamp it to the cord so it’s always nearby. — John Muchow

A board is considered “quarter-sawn” when the growth rings run, more or less, perpendicular to the face of the board. Quarter-sawn boards generally have straight grain and are less prone to shrinkage, compared to other boards. These factors don’t come into play with the 2x4s you use to frame a closet—but it does with the shelves and cabinetry you put into that closet; you want those boards to remain straight, flat and stable.

A super simple iPad Dock/stand made out of a single block of wood features an angled groove which gets to support the tablet device and a cut in a hole to revise access to the home button of your iPad. It’s possible to drill an access channel in the stand through which you can run a charging cable, although this mini stripped back iPad stand may have very limited functions. The best thing about the toy chest is that it is very easy to build. All you need is the basic understanding of woodworking and a few tools to get started. You can also modify your kid’s toy chest in any way you want or build in a different design or color different from the one pictured above. You can try some other designs for your plan in the below-mentioned link.
With an orbital sander and good sandpaper you can smooth wood evenly and easily with first-class results. When flush-sanding solid edge-banding, draw a squiggly line across the joint before sanding. The edge-banding will be slightly proud of the plywood veneer, so the pencil marks provide a visual aid to make sure that you’re sanding flat, and that you don’t sand through the plywood’s veneer. As you go, you can also test for a smooth, level transition by gently scraping your fingernails against the transition. If it’s smooth, your fingers will not catch on the seam between the two pieces

Among early finds of wooden tools are the worked sticks from Kalambo Falls, Clacton-on-Sea and Lehringen. The spears from Schöningen (Germany) provide some of the first examples of wooden hunting gear. Flint tools were used for carving. Since Neolithic times, carved wooden vessels are known, for example, from the Linear Pottery culture wells at Kückhofen and Eythra.

Along with stone, clay and animal parts, wood was one of the first materials worked by early humans. Microwear analysis of the Mousterian stone tools used by the Neanderthals show that many were used to work wood. The development of civilization was closely tied to the development of increasingly greater degrees of skill in working these materials. This particular tray is made using reclaimed barn wood but the author of the project Beyond The Picket Fence surprised everyone with one fact: reclaimed barn wood has often some areas turned pink due to cow urine. If you check the project more closely, you’ll also notice some areas of the tray being almost bright pink. That’s something you don’t see every day! There is significant evidence of advanced woodworking in ancient Egypt.[1] Woodworking is depicted in many extant ancient Egyptian drawings, and a considerable amount of ancient Egyptian furniture (such as stools, chairs, tables, beds, chests) has been preserved. Tombs represent a large collection of these artefacts and the inner coffins found in the tombs were also made of wood. The metal used by the Egyptians for woodworking tools was originally copper and eventually, after 2000 BC bronze as ironworking was unknown until much later.[2]
Build this handy stool in one hour and park it in your closet. You can also use it as a step to reach the high shelf. All you need is a 4 x 4-ft. sheet of 3/4-in. plywood, wood glue and a handful of 8d finish nails. Cut the plywood pieces according to the illustration. Spread wood glue on the joints, then nail them together with 8d finish nails. First nail through the sides into the back. Then nail through the top into the sides and back. Finally, mark the location of the two shelves and nail through the sides into the shelves. Don’t have floor space to spare? Build these super simple wall-mounted shoe organizers instead! Who doesn’t want to have one awesome and handy wooden desk organizer that not only looks beautiful but can store all your mini office desk items properly? See the picture below. I am sure you will love this one. I have already built one myself as I just could not resist having one at my office. This thing easily stores all my office desk essentials, including pen, pencils, marker, small notebooks, etc. in the most organized way. You can see it yourself. Among early finds of wooden tools are the worked sticks from Kalambo Falls, Clacton-on-Sea and Lehringen. The spears from Schöningen (Germany) provide some of the first examples of wooden hunting gear. Flint tools were used for carving. Since Neolithic times, carved wooden vessels are known, for example, from the Linear Pottery culture wells at Kückhofen and Eythra.

Isn’t this amazing that instead of having to throw that old furniture piece away, you can now reuse it to build something even more beautiful? If you do not like this particular idea, there are many other re-purposeful furniture items you can build from an old dresser. Just search the internet for other DIY project ideas. Here is a link to the video tutorial that explains the same procedure in a more practical manner that you can easily follow through.

Instead of permanently mounting my 6-in. vise to a work-bench, I attached it to scrap plywood so I can clamp it wherever I need it. Stack two pieces of 3/4-in. plywood and screw them together with 1-1/4 in. drywall screws. Mark the vise-mounting holes on the plywood and drill 3/4-in. guide holes through both pieces. Recess the nut by drilling through the bottom sheet with a 1-in. spade bit using the 3/4-in. hole as a guide. Fasten the vise to the plywood with bolts sized to match the vise-mounting holes. If the bolt shafts are too long, cut them off with a hacksaw. — LuAnn Aiu. Plus: Learn how to use vise grips to pull nails.

We will suggest you select the simple Birdhouse if you are new at woodworking but be sure to select its design with respect to the place where you are going to hang/place it. One of our simple Birdhouse tutorials will help you building one. We have managed to include a source tutorial below that will help you to understand illustrates and the instruction to building a simple Birdhouse.

Turning an old door into a photo frame is another easy woodwork project. All you need is an old door and some woodworking tools and items. I am here sharing the link to the source tutorial that explains the step by step procedure for building a picture frame from an old wooden door. This tutorial was originally written by Tracy Snyder at athomewithsweett.blogspot.com who also tells you what items you may need and where to find them. If you haven’t already got an old door, you can purchase one from websites like Craigslist. This is probably one the easiest woodworking projects you will find here. Although easy, a doormat is an equally important and useful item for households. As you can see in the image below, you will only need some 2X2 wooden boards and rope to build a simple doormat. This doormat is mostly useful for outdoor and porch. It will easily remove all the mud from your shoes with just one wipe. It is also very easy to clean and looks fabulous even if it is dirty.
There’s a lot of space above the shelf in most closets. Even though it’s a little hard to reach, it’s a great place to store seldom-used items. Make use of this wasted space by adding a second shelf above the existing one. Buy enough closet shelving material to match the length of the existing shelf plus enough for two end supports and middle supports over each bracket. Twelve-inch-wide shelving is available in various lengths and finishes at home centers and lumberyards.
Isn’t this amazing that instead of having to throw that old furniture piece away, you can now reuse it to build something even more beautiful? If you do not like this particular idea, there are many other re-purposeful furniture items you can build from an old dresser. Just search the internet for other DIY project ideas. Here is a link to the video tutorial that explains the same procedure in a more practical manner that you can easily follow through.
Cut the 6-1/2-in. x 3-in. lid from the leftover board, and slice the remaining piece into 1/4-in.-thick pieces for the sides and end of the box. Glue them around the plywood floor. Cut a rabbet on three sides of the lid so it fits snugly on the box and drill a 5/8-in. hole for a finger pull. Then just add a finish and you’ve got a beautiful, useful gift. If you don’t have time to make a gift this year, consider offering to do something for the person. You could offer to sharpen their knives! Here’s how.

Second, learning how to read lumber dimensions, like knowing what 1×2 or 2×12 actually means, is really important. Understanding softwood lumber dimensions will help you to read woodworking build plans, shop for lumber, and understand the general measurements for your projects. I’ve provided a simple explanation to lumber sizes along with a free lumber size chart printable here!

This super-strong and simple-to-build workbench is may be the project you've been looking for a long time. You have to select some free workbench plans to create yourself a working table in your shed that after you can use it when you are working on your projects and maybe it can provide you some extra storage, depends upon which plan you are choosing to DIY.
The progenitors of Chinese woodworking are considered to be Lu Ban (魯班) and his wife Lady Yun, from the Spring and Autumn period (771 to 476 BC). Lu Ban is said to have introduced the plane, chalk-line, and other tools to China. His teachings were supposedly left behind in the book Lu Ban Jing (魯班經, "Manuscript of Lu Ban"). Despite this, it is believed that the text was written some 1500 years after his death. This book is filled largely with descriptions of dimensions for use in building various items such as flower pots, tables, altars, etc., and also contains extensive instructions concerning Feng Shui. It mentions almost nothing of the intricate glue-less and nail-less joinery for which Chinese furniture was so famous.
Drill four 5/8-in.-dia. 1/2-in.-deep holes on the large disc?inside the traced circle?then use 5/8-in. dowel centers to transfer the hole locations to the underside of the small disc. Drill four 1/2-in.-deep holes on the underside of the small disc and a 1/2-in.-deep hole in the center of the top for the dowel handle. Glue in the dowels to join the discs, and glue in the handle. We drilled a wood ball for a handle knob, but a screw-on ceramic knob also provides a comfortable, attractive grip. Hard to determine which stain you need in that bespattered collection of cans? An easy-to-make “stain index,” courtesy of reader Bob Jacek, solves the problem. Section off boards of your favorite woods into squares with masking tape, and apply the different stains across the width of each wood type (pine, oak, birch, etc.). When the stains are dry, brush on lengthwise your regular ﬁnishes—polyurethane, water-based polyurethane, oil, orange shellac, etc. You’ll be able to tell how each stain looks with each ﬁnish. Label each one. Use both sides of each board, and you’ll have a wooden encyclopedia of stain and ﬁnish combinations. Plus: How to stain wood evenly. Often times at first glance a board looks straight and the fact that it is actually bowed or has some warping isn’t always obvious. So the trick to knowing for sure, is to hold the board up towards your face, with the other end on the ground, and look at it at a downward angle (as shown in the below photo). This method will allow you to see if it is bowing at all.
By video tutorial, you will get step by step process instructions of making a nice wooden folding sling chair from scratch. However, my first wooden chair was not the best one, but it was good enough to motivate me to make some more folding chairs like this one. If I can make this, you too can make one yourself. You can browse the internet for more folding sling chairs ideas and start making one now. This super-strong and simple-to-build workbench is may be the project you've been looking for a long time. You have to select some free workbench plans to create yourself a working table in your shed that after you can use it when you are working on your projects and maybe it can provide you some extra storage, depends upon which plan you are choosing to DIY. Along with stone, clay and animal parts, wood was one of the first materials worked by early humans. Microwear analysis of the Mousterian stone tools used by the Neanderthals show that many were used to work wood. The development of civilization was closely tied to the development of increasingly greater degrees of skill in working these materials.
Begin by cutting off a 10-in. length of the board and setting it aside. Rip the remaining 38-in. board to 6 in. wide and cut five evenly spaced saw kerfs 5/8 in. deep along one face. Crosscut the slotted board into four 9-in. pieces and glue them into a block, being careful not to slop glue into the saw kerfs (you can clean them out with a knife before the glue dries). Saw a 15-degree angle on one end and screw the plywood piece under the angled end of the block.
My planer blasts shavings all over the shop floor. I decided to make my own dust chute from 4-in. PVC sewer pipe (which has thinner walls than regular Schedule 40 pipe) and a couple caps. I cut a slit in the pipe and used a heat gun to soften the plastic. That allowed me to open the slit. (Heating PVC releases fumes; ventilation is critical.) I then drilled holes in the flap and screwed it to the planer housing. Finally, I cut a 2-1/2- in. hole in one of the end caps to accept my shop vacuum hose. Works great! — Luis Arce. Here’s what else you can do with PVC pipe.

And the fact is that you can make your own patio chair with several old but still good pallets. Here we are providing a tutorial that everybody can follow easily – it is very well-written and also self-explanatory, which is great for those who are a beginner at woodworking and have never completed a DIY project before. As you don’t need to be a professional woodworker or a handyman to complete this project, so it is not a difficult task – all you need is a bit of determination!​

There are a few things particleboard is NOT. It’s not medium density fiberboard (MDF)—a material with greater density and weight composed of more uniform particles. It’s NOT oriented strand board (OSB), a material composed of large wood chips and strands that’s structurally equivalent to plywood. It does NOT have great nail or screw holding ability, nor is it all that water resistant; water can quickly cause the material to swell and lose structural integrity. But if you need something flat and cheap for use in a dry place, particleboard will do you proud. Learn how to make a plastic laminate tabletop with a particleboard substrate.

Set the table saw fence so the blade is centered on the seam, then push the whole thing through the saw. If the board edges are quite bowed or curvy, you may need a second pass. If so, unscrew the cleats, reclamp the boards across the middle center, then screw on the cleats again. The screws ding up the ends of the boards a little, so cut the boards you’re jointing a bit long, then trim 1/2 in. from each end to remove the screw holes.

Cut the 6-1/2-in. x 3-in. lid from the leftover board, and slice the remaining piece into 1/4-in.-thick pieces for the sides and end of the box. Glue them around the plywood floor. Cut a rabbet on three sides of the lid so it fits snugly on the box and drill a 5/8-in. hole for a finger pull. Then just add a finish and you’ve got a beautiful, useful gift. If you don’t have time to make a gift this year, consider offering to do something for the person. You could offer to sharpen their knives! Here’s how.